Russia: Putin, Trump could meet before July

Russian President Vladimir Putin could meet face-to-face with President Trump before July, after the two leaders held an hour-long phone conversation over the weekend, a presidential spokesman said.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, told Russian news agency TASS that the two could “quite likely” meet before a Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on July 7-8. He said he hoped the leaders’ aides will "waste no time" in preparing.

Trump and Putin spoke Saturday in their first phone call since Trump became president. Peskov said was a “good, constructive conversation.”

In a statement after the call, the Kremlin said the two “had a detailed discussion of pressing international issues.”

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They included fighting terrorism, the situation in the Middle East, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iran’s nuclear program and the Korean Peninsula, the Russian government said.

“The discussion also touched upon the main aspects of the Ukrainian crisis. The sides agreed to build up partner cooperation in these and other areas,” the statement said.

“During the conversation, both sides expressed their readiness to make active joint efforts to stabilise and develop Russia-US cooperation on a constructive, equitable and mutually beneficial basis,” the Kremlin added.

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Peskov said that Putin and Trump did not discuss sanctions. He added: "We have seen a readiness to solve difficult problems through dialogue, which President Putin has long been calling for and unfortunately in previous years did not find a response (to)," Reuters reported.

Putin and Trump have expressed a desire to have a closer relationship, after the Obama administration imposed sanctions against Russian businesses and individuals for Russia’s alleged attempts to interfere in the U.S. presidential election to Trump's advantage, backing of separatist forces in Ukraine and illegal annexation of Crimea.